Drew Dowdell

Being a higher priced car, if the CT6 was outselling the Continental, that would point to a problem as well. The Continental bases almost exactly $10,000 less... I expect it to sell better than CT6. Cadillac's average transaction prices are at their highest ever too, so it's unlikely that it is mostly base models that are moving. But even XTS is outselling Continental and it is priced right up against it. That's a problem.

If XTS is outselling Continental... even if they're both fleet... that's a problem. (note, I didn't bother to go look up the numbers... I said "if")

I just had a 300C for a week and I really really enjoy that car. I'd want it in a V8, but AWD is a necessity for where I live..... I was told that I could replace the Encore with the 300C as long as it was AWD... so maybe.

You want to write some articles or do some photography? I might be able to work something out for you ;-)

The Saab has a very distinct roofline that the Continental doesn't (and shouldnt) have. If you're just talking about the shape of the tail lights, that's a design trend on just about everything these days.

1... what in the hell did you do to that post? 2. I'm not seeing any of what you describe in the Continental... certainly not the 9-5. There might be a touch of Bentley in there, but there are certainly worse comparisons to be made. One thing it does look though is bold. I will say that it is bolder looking than the CT6 and any of the Genesis line at the moment, although the Genesis line is growing on me. I like it far better than anything at Lexus as well.

I believe Mercedes already stated that the car would act to save the occupants first. So that's one manufacturer's stance. It seems to me, on the surface, to be a well reasoned path to take. In such a case, the car has greater control of the safety of the occupants (pretensioning seatbelts, rolling up windows, any other safety countermeasures that can be activated ahead of impact). I think the biggest thing to torpedo autonomous driving technology, in the US at least, is our refusal to invest adequately in infrastructure. Here in Pittsburgh, a self-driving Uber went the wrong way down a one way street, however, the reason was because the street was not well marked. I was driving in a less desirable part of town recently and nearly ran a stop sign. The reason? The stop sign was no longer reflective, so my headlights didn't make it shine and I didn't see it until I was right on top of it. Even just today, the power is out in parts of town due to the ice storm. Duquesne Light has signs up at an intersection that are non-standard stop signs. Passing back through that same intersection later, they have a cop there directing traffic. How will an autonomous vehicle handle that sort of situation? A couple of accidents related to this stuff is what will kill autonomous vehicles here..... not other drivers.

I think the Continental styling is in the unusual position of being at once classic and also ahead of its time.

Attendance is not what I am talking about. The number and importance of the debuts being shown there is dwindling. The Pittsburgh Auto Show is fairly well attended by the public also... but we get zero debuts, so there is practically no media participation, no headlines, no reason for me to even go.

Of course, it will always be one of the big 4, but just looking at the schedule, it now has fewer releases than LA just did. If 2017 NYC stays the same size as it was in 2016 then that means Detroit has fallen to 3rd out of 4. It could just be product cadence by the manufacturers (which I suspect is most likely) or is could be a longer term trend. I've been doing this long enough to remember when it started Sunday afternoon, continued 6:30am Monday, and basically didn't stop till Tuesday evening.

LA, SEMA, CES, Texas State Fair, and the Chinese shows have been growing. Chicago has shrunk dramatically to the point were I now have to consider each year whether it is worth the travel to cover it in person.

Detroit auto show is rapidly losing relevance. It's down to one day of car debuts this year.

Wait, how is displaying upcoming tech at auto shows "rushing things"? Furthermore, GM is far from first to show off the tech, though they've obviously been working on it for years.

Nudging this back on topic.... The Continental

My last flights of 2016 are tomorrow and I'm going to....just... barely... squeak into gold status. What's crazy is that I'm Platinum now which means I flew twice as much in 2015.... Yet I still feel like I got hit by a truck.

Ditto

@A Horse With No Name there's no harm in being smitten by a 2017 Lacrosse.

1 car and the zl1 is a niche within a niche and was at the end of its product cycle with a fantastic new model already seen. Ford's answer to the same issue is to hit the speed dial button for Hertz. Miata, WRX, Golf R, Civic SI.... Don't get much in incentives.

Rarely - happening at low rates of occurrence. Gosh you try to nit pick everything

Cars desirable to enthusiasts rarely get incentives.

I wouldn't be surprised of further platform consolidation in the near future. Even if the XTS goes to 2020, that's only 3 model years away. By that time: SS is dead. XTS is dead. Lacrosse would be on its first refresh of the current body. Impala.....???? CTS become CT# CT6 would be on its first refresh of the current body. Some other Omegas come on the scene.

My thought is far more cynical. I think they kept it going because they need something high dollar to share with Impala in order to justify Impala's existence. I wonder if the XTS will get the 8 speed or 9 speed and if that will address my complaint of the lack of torque in the non-turbo model.

I am far too stressed out to go with a high strung car right now. I'd end up in a tree. I need comfort, quiet, smooth, relaxing...... But I still want my torque.

Yes, GM needs to dial back production... Just like Ford and all the others have needed to do in the past.

I'd go with an XTS V-Sport over a CTS V-Sport any day of the week... so I'm with you there. I'm one of the few who really like the way they look... plus... air ride suspension. And GMC sold over 100k Denalis so far this year.... but it doesn't matter because it is unlikely someone is cross shopping nearly anything with a Denali badge against nearly anything with a Lincoln badge..... the only direct comparison I could see is Navigator to Yukon Denali, and the Navigator is cheaper. Rather than chase volume, I would rather see Lincoln be a purveyor of boutique automobiles of fantastic, untouchable quality, but appealing only to a rather selective audience lest they become *sniff* "common".